What Is a Terminal and Why Do I Need One?

Using a terminal is intimidating at first, but learning just a few basics will have a drastic impact on your coding journey. Luckily, picking up what you need to get going is easy and fast!

After reading this article, you’ll know:

• what a terminal is
• how “shell”, “terminal”, and “command line” relate to each other
• why learning terminal is worth your time

What Is a Terminal?

A terminal is a program you can use to interact with the files and software on your computer in a powerful and somewhat old-school way. Unlike the Graphical User Interface (GUI) you’re used to, with its many clickable buttons and draggable icons, a terminal lets you controls your computer using text instructions.

When given your text-only instructions, the terminal will also reply in text-only form, whether it’s telling you what folder you’re working on, returning a list of records, giving you live updates on a software installation, or letting you know something went wrong.

For most popular operating systems (like Windows, MacOS, and many Linux distributions), the more intuitive GUIs have completely replaced the terminal for everyday use by casual users. Thankfully, all of these systems also include a built-in terminal program for their more adventurous users! While there are many different terminal programs out there to choose from, these built-in terminals are perfect to get started with.

In short, a terminal is another way to interact with your computer—to use programs, run scripts, look at files and information, and carry out other types of instructions.

A note on vocabulary…

There are three terms programmers use interchangeably to talk about the terminal in casual conversation: “shell”, “terminal”, and “command line/command prompt”. Technically, these terms refer to different things, but the distinction rarely matters in practice.

Don’t worry about using the wrong terminology: even experienced programmers may not fully grasp the difference between these concepts. And, like often happens in programming, the exact boundary between them can be controversial in itself! While understanding these terms is useful, everyone will know what you mean even if you aren’t using the most technically correct term.

Want to know more anyway?

Though the exact boundaries between these terms is often the subject of discussion, here’s how the authors of this guide understand them:

• Shell: The program that runs within your “terminal window”. It understands how to run the commands it’s passed and give back their results.
• Terminal: The program you write the commands themselves in. It passes information to the shell and displays shell’s output back to you.
• Command-Line Interface (CLI/command line) or command prompt (prompt): The actual place where you type the commands.

In short, your terminal has a command line where you type commands. Your terminal takes what’s in the command line and gives it to the shell, which processes the command and gives information back to the terminal. The terminal displays the information to you.

Why Should I Learn to Use a Terminal?

Terminals are more than just a replacement for your GUI. As mentioned before, they’re a powerful tool once you become comfortable with them. There are many reasons to learn to use terminals:

• Some powerful programs (especially for programmers) are only available as Command-Line Interface (CLI) programs via a terminal.
• Some tasks that are complex through a GUI are easier or faster via a terminal.
• Using a terminal makes you look incredibly cool and feel more confident in your skills, and it’s a lot easier than you think!

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That’s the gist of it! A terminal is just another way to tell your computer what to do, and once you get the hang of it, you might find yourself preferring it for a lot of tasks.

Next up: How to Choose and Open Your First Terminal will get you set up with one.